Black Dove Support Network: The State of Minnesota v. Christina Vana & Karen Meissner

Saturday, September 5, 2009

The State of Minnesota v. Christina Vana & Karen Meissner

Regarding The State of Minnesota v. Christina Vana & Karen Meissner
Today, the chains were not lifted from our friends lives’, but perhaps the
weight of their bonds are more defined, more certain. Today, Tuesday, September
1st, 2009, Christina Vana and Karen Meissner pled guilty to felony assault in
the 2nd degree, for their part in the massive demontrations during the 2008 RNC
in St. Paul, Minnesota. They received a plea deal, with the State agreeing to
grant them a Stay of Imposition (meaning the felony charge will be dropped to a
misdemeanor after succesful completion of probation), a maximimum of 90 days
jail time, and the possibility of doing Sentence to Serve as a jail
alternative. They face up to 7 years probation. This was a departure from the
sentencing guidelines, which would normally call for prison time. Their
Sentencing is on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009, at 1:30 p.m in front of Judge
Warner at the Ramsey County Courthouse. Please show up and make court a slighty
more festive endeavor!
There are several ways to view a plea agreement. From one perspective, it is a
generous offer from the State, when they have the ability and intention to
quench any inkling of resistance and throw us in jail. On the other hand, when
we take a deal instead of going to trial, we participate in our own
prosecution. It’s just a step away from locking ourselves into our own jail
cells. That’s not to say we aren’t forced into these situations, and when
we can keep ourselves or friends out of jail without incriminating others,
it’s a wise decision.
Despite the judge’s praise of the many supporter’s cooperative behavior,
let’s not forget that our outward docility is just a façade, a strategic
decision and a postponement of our true feelings towards the cops and courts.
It makes a Judge’s job much easier if we sit back quietly while the “fair
and impartial” trial railroads free human beings. Of course a Prosecutor will
appreciate our silence as he slanders our friends to their faces, drags our
names through the mud and convicts us with a Powerpoint Presentation.
In the past year we’ve seen many friends ensared by the wide nets of state
repression. The unfortunate rioters filter in and out of Ramsey County Jail,
and the question remains,: Where do we go from here? How do we continue to
build networks of resistance and foment social change and rebellion in the wake
of such widespread repression? Tomorrow Dave Mahoney will be released from
captivity, but the jails are still filled with kindred spirits. The Milwaukee
Three’s cases may be resolved, but their convictions and the evidence
mentioned by the prosecution will be used to vilify and prosecute the RNC 8.
Jesse James Forrey faces up to 5 years in jail after being convicted of
property damage in St. Paul. We’ll need all the strength and support we can
muster in the coming months and years. The path of resistance is a rocky one
that rambles on, but for ourselves, our wild companions and wilder creatures,
we’ll keep stumbling forward and perhaps find pieces of a world we want.
Those who know Christina and Karen are encourage to write character letters to
the Judge, requesting a sentence with no jail time. These must be addressed to
The Honorable Judge Teresa Warner, Ramsey County Court and can be sent as an
attachment to helpmkegirls@gmail.com, or inquire by email where to mail or fax
letters. Also feel free to donate any amount to help with Karen and
Christina’s legal costs, estimated at $40,000, via their website.
Also, please show up to the sentencing of Jesse James Forrey, on September 17th
at 1:30 p.m in front of Judge Flynn at the Ramsey County Courthouse. He faces
up to 5 years in jail and appreciates any support we can give him.
http://helpmkethree.blogspot.com/
http://supportjessejames.wordpress.com/
http://rnc8.org

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What is the Prison Industrial Complex?

What is the Prison Industrial Complex? The prison industrial complex (PIC) is a complicated system situated at the intersection of governmental and private interests that uses prisons as a solution to social, political, and economic problems. The PIC depends upon the oppressive systems of racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia. It includes human rights violations, the death penalty, industry and labor issues, policing, courts, media, community powerlessness, the imprisonment of political prisoners, and the elimination of dissent.How the PIC WorksTo fully describe the PIC, we have to look at the big picture of how it functions. For example, the prison construction boom can be linked to, among other factors, the huge increase in the number of people sentenced to prison terms with the onset of the war on drugs, the repression of radical movements by people of color for self-determination, and the anti-imperialist struggles of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. The "war on drugs" and the national and local efforts to destroy radical political movements led to increasing police presence in communities of color and poor communities, higher arrest rates, and longer prison sentences.This boom is also fueled by dramatic and racist reporting about "crime," "delinquency," and "rebellion," creating a culture of fear in which it continues to be acceptable and desirable to many people to lock people (primarily people of color, youth, and poor people) in cages for longer and longer in the interest of "public safety." The way the many parts of the PIC interact is exactly what makes it so powerful and destructive. In order to fight this system, we have to see it for all that it is and recognize what drives and shapes it.Fighting the PICFighting the PIC means fighting the mainstream ideas of public safety and challenging the idea that police, prisons, and the court system make people who are not in power safer. At the same time, we must create alternative ideas of security based on the safety of the people most affected by the PIC.The United States currently imprisons around 2 million people. About 6.5 million people are presently under some form of supervision within the criminal justice system. Women represent the fastest rising prison population. Since 1980, the number of women imprisoned in the U.S. has risen by almost 400 percent. Racism continues to be a major factor in the United States, illustrated by policies and programs that sustain white supremacy. Racism, as it is used through criminal laws that target people of color, is essential to the PIC, not accidental.Prisons Are Not an Answer to CrimeThe wrongdoings we call crime do not exist in the same ways everywhere and are not "human nature". What is considered a crime is determined by the societies we live in. Because we have seen over and over again that locking more people in cages does not reduce crime, we must understand the power relationships that lead society to lock up only certain people. Since prisons do not stop problems like poverty, racism, or drug addiction, we cannot expect them to stop crime. We need to understand that we have no option but to fight and continue to fight until all of the different parts of the PIC that continue to put our survival in danger are eliminated.The Movement Against the PICThe movement against the PIC runs the risk of being shaped by easy victories or simplified struggles that do not recognize and fight the whole system. We must go beyond false separations, such as "non-violent" versus "violent" that place prisoners in opposition to each other. One important place to begin to fight the PIC is by pushing the movement to a more complete race, class, and gender analysis. We cannot allow ourselves to do short-term work that undermines our long-term vision and goals, or rely on the same systems of oppression and domination that sustain and drive the PIC to influence "mainstream" voters and decision makers. In order to do this work, we must continue to create spaces for people with different points of view to have honest discussions and disagreements about directions the movement against the PIC should take.What We Are ForSince we are so frequently asked what we are "for" rather than "against," the struggle against prisons, police, repression, punishment, and the criminalization of entire communities must display a clear vision that a world without the PIC is possible. One way to define and shape what we are for is through creating a culture of resistance, or a culture and society that fill all the different parts of our lives with alternatives to the culture of imprisonment. A new culture must nurture and sustain our struggle and provide space for political education, conversation and debate about what we are doing and what we need to do in the future.In order to figure out why people get locked up and under what circumstances, we need to look at what are sometimes called "root causes." This strategy requires looking at the competing priorities of the systems in which we live and understanding why they work well for some and horribly for others. The systems of race, class, gender, and sexuality, for instance, are commonly understood as privileging some people's needs and ideals over others. By exploring why and how those systems work for some and not for others, we can begin to develop a better understanding of how to include concrete steps in our work that deal with the negative effects of these systems on the people who are most often put in cages.To oppose the PIC, activists must work on both theoretical and practical levels. We cannot only engage in single-issue struggles, because all the issues intersect. How can we best create social change in an era of globalization? The voices of today's radical activists, particularly activists of color, must be at the front of the fight against the PIC. Those who are most affected by the system must be the ones planning its end.Organizing against the PIC is as much about building something as it is about fighting what is destroying our communities. Our organizing is also an ongoing effort to create alternatives, not only to imprisonment, but to the culture of punishment we've become so used to.

Black Dove Support Network

Saturday, September 5, 2009

The State of Minnesota v. Christina Vana & Karen Meissner

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For more info:

What is the Prison Industrial Complex?

Who We Are

Giving us the Hollar